Mihawk/Shanks •3•
(The Road Was Bumpy But It Led Here)
It had been a bumpy road.
Traditionally a courting was supposed to last a year. And that year had been full of awkwardness, fumbling words and hands, and more than one embarrassment.
But they got through it. And Mihawk had just fallen more in love with Shanks. Shanks could say the same.
When Mihawk first saw the redhead he wanted to write him off as just another omega pirate captain, but then they had fought and he had become impressed.
Impressed because the omega could keep up with him. Impressed because the omega could match him in a fight.
He had more than impressed him, Shanks had interested him. Made him take notice.
He hadn't wanted a mate but he had been feeling the need to find one for years now, and had been constantly pushing the need down and trying to ignore it.
But he thought about sometimes. If he would ever get a mate he wanted someone who wasn't weak and therefore easy for him to loose. He wanted a strong mate. One that could, at least, keep up with him in a fight.
And then Shanks came along and he started to fall in love with him.
He knew that not everyone used the courting roses anymore, but he had felt like, to show Shanks he was honestly interested in him, that it was the best way to go about it.
He had been right and a year later Shanks had let him bond him.
A month after that he had gone to Shanks first mate and asked him, because Shanks had no family to ask, for his approval to make Shanks his Mate. Benn had been slightly baffled he asked. But had given his approval with several threats along with it.
He had asked Shanks to become his mate that night and the crew had celebrated when their captain said yes.
It was several months later and Mihawk had left the ship to go to another one of the fights that would help him into become the greatest swordsman. He was so close to it
Shanks groaned as he clung to the railing. It was night and the stars reflected off the water. It was beautiful and calming. And it was almost cold out.
One of the reasons he had come out this late was that he had hoped the cold air would help his nauseated stomach. He was having no such luck. And where as the sight in front of his usually would be relaxing he felt nothing but a tense anticipation.
He coughed before he lurched towards the rail and threw up into the water below.
Once the lurching in his torso stopped he leaned his head against the rail and panted.
He felt a hand touch his back and he peeked an eye over his shoulder, to see Benn standing there.
"Captain."
Shanks grunted in an exhausted acknowledgement before he left his eyes close as he tried to catch his breath.
He heard Benn shift his weight before the first mate spoke again. "Captain I think you need to let the doctor look at you. This has gone on now for long enough."
Shanks grunted and let himself be pulled by Benn. He had a suspicion of what was wrong with him. Well more of an instinctive knowing really. Besides the twinges of occasional pain he felt in his chest and lower stomach were a little obvious.
He let Benn push him down onto the infirmary's bed and watched his first mates back as he left the room again. He sighed before slinging himself back onto the bed getting in a more comfortable position on the bed with his hands behind his head, staring up at the planked ceiling above him.
Before he took any action he was going to get the confirmation of another to make sure he was right.
It didn't take long for Benn to come back with the ship's doctor and he sighed again. "Captain Benn told me you got sick again. I think it'd be best if I did a full examination on you to find the problem."
Shanks grunted and shifted his eyes back to the ceiling above him. "There's no need. Well maybe later but for now just focus here." He placed one of his hands on his lower abdomen to show where he meant. And when there was no answer he turned his head to look at the two other people in the room.
Benn had a look on his face that showed he was suspicious, but the doctor was looking at him with wide eyes. Suddenly the doctor turned and shoved Benn out the door, which earned him a surprised 'Hey!' for the trouble, before he turned and went over to one of the various cabinets in the room.
The doctor turned and walked over to him with a jar of clear cream and a type of denden mushi he hadn't seen before. Or if he had he didn't pay much attention to it. It had, a screen attached to its shell and nothing else.
"Lift your shirt up and put your arms by your sides." He obeyed and the doctor put on gloves after setting the jar and denden on the small table nearby. He gathered a good bit of the cream out of the jar and smeared it across Shanks lower abdomen before picking up the denden and placing it over the cream.
A second later the screen gained two moving lines and a number directly under them. The first was a slower and stronger heartbeat. The second was faster and slightly weak, but still there.
Shanks swallowed and laid his head back down from where he held it to see the screen, once again the planked ceiling came into view before he shifted his eyes to the doctor. He didn't need to be told why there were two heart beats.
The doctor frowned a tad before turning towards Shanks' face with a smile. "Well Congratulations Captain. You're at least 6 weeks pregnant."
Shanks felt a half smile twitch on his lips, "And you are worried? About what?" He didn't like the worried glint in his ship doctor's eyes.
"I'm sure it's nothing. The babies heartbeat is a tad slower than I'd like it to be. Though that can sometimes be normal. We'll have to see as your gestation progresses. But I need to ask a couple questions captain." He responded as he got a rag from one of the other cabinets and removed the denden before starting to wipe away the cream.
Pointedly trying to ignore what the doctor was doing, but being hyperaware of each one of his movements around where his baby was anyway, he nodded to the beta as a go ahead gesture.
The doctor finished before setting the rag next to the now asleep denden mushi, before opening a drawer on the other side of the room and pulling out a notepad and pencil, he turned to his captain who had pulled his shirt back down and now rested a hand over it, semi-protectively, semi-gently. As if he was worried if he pressed to hard he could hurt the babe.
"Have you been feeling any pain?" Well that was a loaded first question.
Shanks cleared his throat and looked away before answering. "Sometimes. But just twinges and it goes away after a while."
He heard his ship doctor growl and his eyes glanced over at the man to see him with a more than annoyed look on his face. Yea he knew the beta would be angry for not telling him.
The beta blew an annoyed huff out of his nose before writing in his notepad and continuing on with the questions. "Where?"
"Just my stomach and chest. My chest is more sore than painful."
The doctor nodded. "Your chest is starting to prepare itself to provide for the baby. The pain in you stomach though.." he paused and tapped the pencil against the notepad. "We'd have to wait a few more weeks for me to find out what's causing it," he snapped his head up to Shanks and glared fiercely, "but you tell me if you have any more pain or if it gets any worse."
Shanks nodded and the doctor turned back to the notepad in hand. "Now with Mihawk gone an alpha scent can be more unsettling to you and some scents may not be as soothing as they once were. Omegas tend to be more sensitive to others scents in an effort to keep them and the baby safe, so if your gut instinct tells you to get away from someone, even if you trust them, don't hesitate to follow it. It's just your instincts and it doesn't cause you or anyone else harm."
Shanks listened to the beta and watched him as he started to pace around the room as he thought. A quirk of his. "You come to me with any questions, or anything you might notice that your not sure about. If anything changes you come to me, or get Benn to get me."
He whirled around to face his red haired captain and pierced him with a stern stare. "Promise me."
Shanks looked back at him with the same amount of seriousness. "I promise."
The doctor nodded. "Good. Now go get some rest. You look tired, besides your going to need it." He nodded and stood before walking out of the infirmary.
Outside stood the rest of his men, with Benn in front of them all. They were all staring at him with slightly worried looks.
He paused with slightly wide eyes as he blinked at him.
Benn broke the silence. "Well?"
He turned his head to him and blinked before turned to look at all of them.
He raked his teeth over his bottom lip before steeling his nerves.
"I'm pregnant."
There was one. Two. Seconds of silence before they all broke out into cheers.
He looked over to Benn to see his first mate had his eyes closed with a smile on his face.
Suddenly the door behind him burst open and the ship doctor walked out with a vicious look on his face. "It is one in the morning! Everyone to bed NOW! DOCTOR'S ORDERS!"
Everyone took off to their own hammocks and cabins still laughing all the way. Seeing them do so the doctor shook his head fondly, before turning around and going back into the infirmary.
Benn looked at the smiling Shanks and put his arm on his captain's shoulder gaining his attention. "Come on Captain. Let's get some rest."
Shanks smiled and allowed Benn to escort him back to the Captain's quarters.
A bumpy road maybe. But it led here, it was more than worth it.
